Vol.26 No.3（2004 June）：241-246

GTPase Ran and Its Biological Function

CAO Yun Kao^1,2, ZHANG Gui Xue², CHEN Da Yuan¹, SUN Qing Yuan^1*

（¹State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China; ²North-Eastern Agricultural University, Haerbin 100030, China）

Abstract: GTPase Ran, which binds to and hydrolyzes GTP, is a critical regulator of many metabolic pathways. It plays roles in many biological aspects of eukaryotes, such as DNA replication, RNA transcription and processing/modification, nucleocytoplasmic transport of RNA and proteins, the entry into and out of mitosis or meiosis, the spindle assembly, the correct chromosome segregation, the nuclear envelope breakdown and re-assembly during the mitosis and meiosis.

Key words: Ran; DNA; RNA; spindle nuclear envelope

*Corresponding author, E-mail: sunqyl@yahoo.com, sunqyl@yahoo.com